DrBarchas.com is a free resource for people with pets. Searchable articles are available on diseases, behavior, symptoms, and medical treatments for dogs and cats.
Finicky eating behavior and decreased appetite are often related in cats and dogs. Food preferences and minor behavioral issues are responsible for many instances of finicky eating behavior.
However, a very large number of diseases suppress appetite in pets. Pets with suppressed appetites may eat less, or may become more selective (finicky) about what they eat.
More common causes are listed first. Less common causes are listed later.
Clindamycin is a commonly used antibiotic in veterinary medicine. Clindamycin is used to treat a variety of bacterial infections. Some of its more common applications include treatment of dental infections, abscesses, infected wounds, and infected bones.
Laxatone® and Petromalt® are commonly prescribed to prevent and eliminate hairballs in cats. They are laxatives that promote the passage of intestinal contents through the rectum as feces. Although the two products (and other, similar products) primarily are marketed as hairball remedies, they also are used to treat and prevent constipation.
Dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.
Tapeworms are parasites of dogs and cats. They live in the intestines and, although they rarely cause clinical symptoms or disease in pets, they rob their hosts of nutrients. Tapeworms are aesthetically unpleasant.
The most common type of tapeworm is spread by fleas. Pets contract this species of tapeworm when they swallow fleas in the process of grooming. Other tapeworms are spread through improperly prepared food.
More common causes are listed first. Less common causes are listed later.
Antihistamines such as hydroxyzine (Atarax®), diphenhydramine (Benadryl®), and chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton®) are used in veterinary medicine primarily to treat allergies that cause skin problems. Less often, they are prescribed to prevent carsickness, to treat severe allergic reactions to insect bites or stings, or as sedatives.
Puppies and kittens. Rarely, adult cats and dogs.
Coccidia are microscopic intestinal parasites of dogs and cats. They are extremely common, but they very rarely cause symptoms in adult animals. In puppies and kittens, they are a frequent cause of diarrhea.
Untreated, severe cases of coccidia in young animals can lead to profuse diarrhea, dehydration, and serious illness. However, most cases of coccidia do not have these consequences.
Common Causes
More common causes are listed first. Less common causes are listed later.
Tetracycline is an antibiotic that is prescribed to treat a variety of bacterial infections.
Tetracycline is administered orally. It is available as a pill or a liquid suspension. Compounding pharmacies may be able to produce palatable formulations of tetracycline to ease administration to pets.
All animals, regardless of species or age, experience pain.
Animals feel pain under the same circumstances as people. Anything that would cause pain in a person will cause pain in pets.
Symptoms of pain differ among species.
Cats:
Cats instinctively hide pain. Therefore, signs of pain in cats are usually subtle. A cat in pain may: